Alone in the Dark
by crimeson-plasma
Summary: When Portgas D. Ace is brutally murdered it is all left to Luffy to discover who killed his brother and why. However, will he be able to see through the lies and deceptions to discover who the murderer is? Law/Luffy. An AU.
1. Prologue

I recently got an idea for another long fanfic (which this time will be Law/Luffy, I somehow got into the pairing and I'm sad that there's not much about them) and here's the very first part of it! This one will be a crime/mystery one. Somehow I got this idea right after reading the most recent chapter (659), which I absolutely loved. Anyways, enjoy! Please fav, follow and review! ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters, Oda does. I do however own the plot of this story.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

How does a watch work? This is a very simple and yet complex question. It works with gears. It is all about gears. One gear is pushed, and the others follow as a result, unable to do anything else, unable to give us more time or to change the outcome of things, to allow us to change it. Once a gear is pushed the others will follow no matter what, always in the same eternal, unstoppable and unavoidable way. Reminding me of the time that flies, the inevitability of events, that the end that can't be stopped… One gear is pushed the others follow as a result. There is nothing you can do about it, nothing at all. Time goes away, never to return. A watch symbolises all of this; change, death, eternity… None of these things can leave my mind; maybe because of what I am about to do. I don't know, and I doubt that I ever will, but I don't care. All I know is that I must finish what I started, no matter what. Once I finish this everything will run smoothly, it will be unstoppable.

I gulp and clutch the golden pocket watch with all the strength that I can gather, knowing that it won't break. The ticking sound it makes is the only thing that I can hear, and it doesn't bother me at all. It reminds me of my purpose, of what I have to do. A smirk finds its way to my face as I look at the male that is lying right in front of me, on top of the cold street floor, bound so that it would be completely impossible for him to say a single word or move. He now was completely silent, looking at me with hate filled eyes, trying to escape his bounds. He had been trying to do so for several minutes now with no result, and he was slowly coming to the conclusion that he could do nothing now. It didn't matter that he was very strong; there were no possibilities for anything. His time has come now, and this was an outcome that couldn't be changed, not by him and not even by me. I had planned everything perfectly, the time, the place, the moment… even the materials that I would use. Nothing would go wrong, nothing.

I slowly drew out the long knife that I had been carrying for so long, and I gently stroked the skin of my victim with it, making a small trail of blood appear. Yes, nothing could be done now. I drew away the knife, contemplating with satisfaction the blood that had started flowing, which had a strangely attracting effect. The smirk soon turned into a grin as I repeated the process in various parts of the male's body, slowly become more and more unaware of the constant ticking noises of the pocket watch. I could afford playing with him for some time.

Suddenly I became aware again of the ticking noises that the pocket watch, which I was still holding tightly, made. Now was the moment. It had to be now. I placed the knife on the floor and let the grin that had been plastered on my face disappear slowly and turn into the smirk that it had been before. I looked at the victim right in the eye, who still was glaring at me.

"Now is the time, Portgas D. Ace" I said with a tone of voice filled with anticipation.

I quickly got hold of a larger and sharper knife and drew it closer and closer to him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to make a sound. Everything was perfect, and he wouldn't be able to do a single thing to change that fact. I grinned again as I started to do my job, slowly cutting him open and apart. He closed his eyes in pain, trying to scream. I just continued grinning all the way through. One gear is pushed, and the others follow. It had started.


	2. Chapter 1

Here is the first chapter! I hope that you like it! :D This is also the very first detective or mystery story that I write, so please forgive any inaccuracies. It was awfully hard to write this chapter (this is the third version of it that I wrote), since there were some things that I didn't end up liking. Anyways, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Oda does.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trafalgar Law once told me that we only remember what never happened. An eternity would pass until I finally understood what he meant with those words and I realised just how true they were. However it will be better if I start from the beginning of this story rather than from the end. It will be easier to understand that way.

By the start of the 21st Century, the city of Goa was a mirage of avenues and alleys where one could almost travel thirty, forty and even fifty, years into the past by just crossing the threshold of a house or a café, sometimes even more. Time and memory, history and fiction, seemed to melt in the town that had seen great splendour in the past like in a drawing, in an almost magical way. It was there, in streets that no longer exist and between buildings and monuments that seemed to have escaped from fables, where this story that changed so many things took place.

Around that time I was just nineteen years old, barely a man, languishing as I struggled against starvation and death alongside my only brother. In those days the outskirts of the city, which always contained the poor parts of it, still conserved the picturesque appearance that only a small village could have. My house was located in this part of the town, where all the non-noble people lived at. Its angular and old frontage suggested it to be a very old and worn out building, destroyed by time in the way that only time can do. It had an almost muddy colour outside, and looked like a puzzle of sorts that the person that had built it had never really managed to solve. Time had really done an excellent job in making it an easily distinguishable and special building.

Leaks were common when it rained, and I still remember the smell of rotten wood that reigned inside almost every part of the house, but this never bothered my brother or me when we lived there. It added some sort of charm and magic to the house. The house was surrounded by a citadel of buildings of a similar style and in a similar state, but ours was the most recognisable and unique of them all. Tall shadowy buildings stood proud beside it, along with some rare gardens and mighty statues that had been heavily eroded. The whole area had a ghostly aura around it that was impossible to ignore, and that again added its own charm to the buildings inside it.

The building consisted of two floors, an attic and a basement, which were bigger than what they seemed to be from the outside. My brother and I lived in the attic of the building, which consisted of three rooms and a bathroom. Two of these were our rooms, and the other one served as a living room and a kitchen. We had moved here when I was eleven and he was fourteen and four years after the death of our other sworn brother, Sabo, who had been killed by a nobleman, out of pure necessity. We had both spent our youth with the mountain bandits, but we had eventually been forced to leave due to economic problems. The walls of the attic had long lost their colour and the furniture that was inside the building wasn't precisely one of a quality comparable to the one used by the nobles that lived in the nucleus of the city, but that never stopped me from spending the long days daydreaming and playing in the place that seemed to me to be like a mighty castle, being able to view the people that walked hurriedly through the crowded and unsafe streets that surrounded the house. Big windows let impressive amounts of sunshine go through them, making it seem as if time stopped. I remember that I used to lie for hours on the floor, staring at the bright blue sky.

My brother Ace almost immediately started doing all kinds of jobs to maintain us both, and I frequently helped him. My favourite moment of the day was in the afternoon or evening, when we were both inside the house. It was during these moments when we started exploring the city, managing even to get into the centre parts of it that were barred for people with our low blood status. Eat and run was always one of our favourite occupations, and we never got caught for it. I remember that we used to walk for hours through deserted and colourful alleys covered in ivy. There were many mansions in the city, most of which had been abandoned a long time ago and were inhabited just by rats and spiders. Walls covered with ivy frequently blocked the path to gardens that had been invaded long ago by weeds and abandonment, which surrounded stately homes that were in a similar or worse state. However, some were inhabited by people who were hostages of their own past and that couldn't bear the thought of leaving their homes behind in search of better places.

It was when I was seventeen years old when I started working for various people in the city, although no jobs seemed to be enough to stop struggling against starvation. My brother worked for a man frequently called 'Whitebeard', a rich businessman known for treating his employees like a family. I used to spend long hours with my brother's friends, talking about everything and nothing as we both struggled to survive in this town, full of people that reminded one of wolves wanting to hunt prey.

I still remember the morning of the day when it all started clearly enough to make it seem as if I was living it all again. It was a very hot morning, one where not even the most minuscule breeze flowed through the buildings of the city. I had woken up quite late, once the sun was high in the sky, due to the absence of my brother, who usually woke me up at mornings. He apparently hadn't returned at night from his work like he usually did. Usually he returned very late, but the days when he didn't return were strange and infrequent. However I didn't, however, notice anything strange or worry for Ace. He was strong. Nothing bad could happen to him.

I quickly got changed into the usual clothes that I wore before getting hold of my precious straw hat, and went out of the building. I immediately started walking towards Makino's bar, where I usually had my breakfast. I had been going there for years with Ace, and I knew the place as well as the back of my hand. The streets were crowded with people of all kinds who I could barely recognise. I reached the bar quite quickly and entered in the same rushed and excited manner as I had always done.

"Makino!" I said with a cheerful grin plastered on my face as I entered the place, which was full of people by then.

"Luffy!" Makino said, greeting me with a smile "Will you have what you always order? It seems that you're already late for your work" She said.

"Yes" I said with a grin, suddenly remembering that I was late for work.

I looked at the obviously old and slightly dirty bar, which was currently full of people. Strange decorations of all type hanged from the bar's walls, decorating the place as best as they could. Makino soon returned with a big dish of meat, which I started eating almost instantaneously. She laughed as I ate, amused in the way in which she always was. We started speaking calmly as I ate, but it was only once I had finished that I asked her a question that I had wanted to ask her ever since I had woken up this morning.

"Makino, have you seen Ace this morning?" I said with a twinge of worry in my voice.

"Ace? No, he hasn't been here in all morning. Is he alright?" She asked me, worry evident in her voice.

"Ace didn't return last night home, but I'm sure that he's alright. Ace's strong" I said with a confident tone of voice.

It was just then when I remembered that I was late for work. I muttered an apology to Makino, paid quickly what I owed her, went out of the bar and immediately started running through the crowded streets, wondering if anything had happened. I had a strange feeling, but I didn't know what it was exactly. I felt like something had gone terribly wrong, and it was making me nervous. It was just then when I heard my cell phone start ringing. I quickly got hold of it and answered the call. Soon I heard the voice of Shanks.

"Shanks!" I immediately greeted the other man with a happy tone of voice "Has anything happened?" I then asked him. I saw Shanks a lot, but he barely called me, and even less at this time of the day. He worked as a detective for the town's police, and had made quite a name for himself. He had helped me and my brother an awful lot when we had moved into the town.

"Luffy, something has happened. You need too… come to my office, as soon as possible" He just said before hanging up.

I muttered an okay and quickly put my cell phone in my pocket, before starting running through streets with a heavy with the smell of sweat, bumping occasionally into people and failing to notice the angry looks that some of them gave me as I ran through the crowd.

Minutes seemed to fly by as I ran towards the office that I now knew so well by now. That strange feeling was still inside me, and it wouldn't go away. I gulped as I saw the building inside which the office was located at. It was very well kept and conserved in the outside, which was quite a surprising thing to see in this part of town. It was surrounded by buildings of a similar style that had a dreary aura around them, which contrasted deeply with how the building seemed to be. It was located in one of the main avenues of the city, and was surrounded by the constant buzzing of gossip and chatter. No matter how the buildings in this area looked like it was a place in town which I adored being at, due to the happiness that seemed to irradiate from it even though of the appearance that most of the buildings here had. I had had many good memories in this place that involved my brother, my friends and I, and I could never help but smile as memories invaded me when I was around this place.

I quickly opened the front door of the building, making it crash against the wall, and almost flew up the stairs, eager to reach the floor where the office was located. I soon reached it and entered in a very loud manner, grabbing the attention of all of the people that were inside it almost instantaneously. The office consisted of two rooms, which were the main one where Shanks and his friends worked at, which was cramped with desks and all kinds of papers, and a small bathroom. Shanks and many of his workmates were standing up with worried expressions on their faces at the middle of the main room. My smile immediately disappeared as I noticed this. I could sense that something was wrong; I knew that something bad had happened. I just knew it.

Shanks smiled as he saw me. "Luffy!" He said as soon as he saw me, trying to seem cheerful.

I grinned and soon greeted him and all of his friends back. "Has anything happened?" I then asked the red haired man as my grin suddenly disappeared.

The man looked at me with a serious expression on his face, confirming my fears that something bad had indeed happened. "We received not so long ago a call from the headquarters. They have found a body not so far away from here. It involves you, Luffy" He just said.

I gulped. "Let's go then" I just said. Soon I was walking out of the building with Shanks and several of Shank's workmates and best friends, people who I knew very well.

It didn't take long to reach the place where the crime scene was at. Shanks and the others initially had got lost, surprisingly, but it was easy to tell where the crime had happened at just by looking at how the people that usually waked hurriedly down the streets and how they seemed to avoid certain areas. There were many policemen around blocking the way and telling people to move on. Had the crime been so serious? Curiosity soon got the better of me, and couldn't help but to be grateful in some way for being allowed here due to Shanks, who was a detective, being my friend and having him at my side. His presence was also comforting in some way, and I was also grateful for that.

"Authorisation please" A policeman said as we were about to enter the small alley where the crime had apparently taken place at.

Shanks immediately showed the man his police badge, as did the others, soon explaining the reason of my presence here with low whispers.

"It's good to see that you have finally arrived, but it's bloody I warn you" the policeman just said.

I nodded and just started walking forwards with the rest. I soon realised that what the man had said was true. The crime scene was quite bloody. The walls of the streets were covered with blood that had already dried up, and there were torn pieces of clothes all over the place, along some broken objects.

"There was quite a big fight" I immediately thought as looked at the street. It was in a disastrous condition, and I couldn't help but wonder just in what condition the body would be in. There were already some policemen doing diverse jobs around where the body was, and there even was one noting down details about the crime scene. I desperately wanted to know who had been the victim. This whole thing was related to me, as was the victim, and I sincerely hoped that the victim wasn't who I was suspecting that it was. It couldn't be Ace, it just couldn't.

As I advanced through the street the air seemed to become increasingly stagnant and foul, who knows because of what reason. Shanks was walking right beside me with a serious expression on his face. Suddenly one of the policemen that had been noting things about the crime scene turned abruptly around, pale as ice, looking as if he was about to be sick. I gulped, sensing that this wasn't going to be neither a pretty crime scene nor a neat one. Flies hovered all over the place with interest and hunger, but I wasn't conscious of the sound that they made as the flied over the area. My feet started feeling heavy as I got a bad feeling about all of this.

Suddenly I found myself right in front of the crime scene, right in front of the cut-apart body that once had been of a living being. I looked forwards, and it was only when I saw the head of the person that I realised just what had happened to my brother. The very time that I was so used to seemed to stop in the putrid and foul alley as flies continued hovering all around the air. A wave of sickness quickly invaded me, and before I knew it I had turned around and vomited.


	3. Chapter 2

It has taken me far too long to update this fanfic, but here is the second chapter! I hope you like it

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Oda does.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I completely lost track of time after seeing the corpse of my now deceased brother was. For a couple of moments, too, I even lost track of where I was and of what day it was. Everything was dark and empty, hopeless. Nothing made sense. Absolutely nothing. My brother was dead. My brother was dead. My brother was dead. No, it couldn't be true. Ace couldn't be dead, he was strong. Ace was strong. He had always taken care of me, protected me against the bad things that lurked this city and ensured that I was happy. He had promised that he would always be there for me, that he would always protect me. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.

I opened my eyes, not having even realised that I had closed them, and decided to dare to turn around and look again to ensure that I hadn't imagined everything. I had to make sure that this wasn't just all a dream or a really bad joke. A cold breeze of wind gently went past me, rustling my hair as it did this. A couple of leaves fell onto the concrete of the street, a couple of them falling right into some of the big patches of blood. Everything seemed to go slower than usual, as if time itself had stopped. I closed my eyes again, feeling disturbed by the sight of blood and the flies that kept hovering all the place.

"It has to be a dream, it has to be a dream" I muttered over and over again as I turned around.

Seconds, or at least what seemed to be seconds, passed. And I knew that I was now facing the body again. I opened my eyes, and soon was facing it again. I gagged, feeling like vomiting again as soon as I saw the sight again. The sheer foulness of the air hit me again in full, only this time I was able to clearly distinguish the foul smell coming from the body from that of the blood and the vomit. It was horrifying. The body was still in the exact spot, only with now a clear outline of where it had been drawn around it. Various policemen were still scattered around the place, carrying out jobs.

I clenched my fists and felt tears gather in my eyes. I hadn't imagined it. This wasn't a dream. Ace had really died. I looked around, feeling the state of the street with all the blood and the powerful smells over power me. I wouldn't be able to stand this any longer. A terrible and unusual sadness was filling me up as the magnitude of what had happened hit me completely. Ace was dead and would never come back. I would never be able to see him again, no matter what I did. Who could have done such a terrible thing? Why my brother?

Soon I had fallen on my knees, my eyes wide with shock. More tears started falling, and I hit repeatedly the cold stone floor of the street with my fists. Barely more than a metre besides me was one of the many patches of blood. I looked at it, soon feeling the shock override all of my senses. That colour… that deep red colour…

"Luffy" I suddenly heard someone say.

I turned towards the voice, having been distracted from my thoughts, and suddenly was reminded of Shanks, who was still besides me. He was looking at me, eyes filled with concern. I distractedly looked again at the body, feeling the first tears fall from my eyes. I felt empty, oh so empty. He crouched besides me, looking into my eyes with his own dark ones. I felt the straw hat that I had been gifted by Shanks fall from my hair onto my back almost softly, as if caressing me, and avoiding the cold floor thanks to the thin rope that tied it to my head.

"W-who did this, Shanks?" I immediately asked him, wanting to know an answer.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me even if just a bit. "That's what I'm here to discover, Luffy. I promise you that we'll get to the truth of all of this" He said.

I chocked another sob, and felt myself fall onto my knees. I didn't understand anything. How could things have gone so wrong already in just a morning? As more tears fell from my eyes, I wished that I had never gotten out from my bed that morning. That this hadn't happened. I shut my eyes as hard as I possibly could, trying desperately to tune out the red that was glaring at me from _everywhere_. Cruel, harsh, inescapable. The sound of the flies started getting to me again, soon being even louder that the talk of the policemen that were surrounding the body.

Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled up and pulled into an embrace by the only father figure that I had ever really had. I blinked, surprised, but not being able to contain my sadness.

"I promise that we will know the truth, Luffy. We will discover it and put in jail whoever did this" Shanks said with determination.

I nodded absentmindedly, far too detached to process what Shanks was saying. Suddenly, I was pulled to back to the entrance of the street.

"It would be better if you left this… place for now, Luffy. I don't think it's good for you to remain here" He said. "I must stay here for now to investigate, but I will call you later on" Shanks added.

"Okay" I said, biting my lower lip. I tried to look back at the scene, but this time Shanks was in the way, blocking the horrible sight that I had been in until seconds ago.

"I will tell one of the guys here to accompany you home in my place" He said as he looked behind him.

"But, I'm late for work already" I abruptly said, suddenly remembering of the fact that before I had received Shanks' call I already had been late enough.

"I'm sure that it will be fine if you don't go today to work. Just make sure to call them" He just said before turning around and looking for someone in particular. Probably for someone who would accompany me back home. "Hey, Law!" Shanks said with a loud voice, immediately causing that 'Law' man to walk towards us.

-.-.-.-

Before I even noticed, I was walking out of the street with the unknown man Shanks had called and asked a favour.

"This is Trafalgar Law, he works at forensics at the police department" He had said, presenting me the man that seemed to be around my age. "He'll accompany you home" He had then added.

I had just nodded, not particularly caring to speak against that and say that I was perfectly capable of getting back home on my own and taking care of myself. I was too bottled up in my own thoughts and overtaken with grief to even attempt such a thing. I still was, even though I was now in the middle of a crowded street, not even noticing the tears that were still streaming down my face. . The air was fresh and slightly damp, giving the feeling of coldness unnatural for this time of the year; nothing like the one in the street where I had just been. I shuddered, remembering suddenly the scene and the state my brother had been in. He had clearly been put to death after terrible suffering. I gulped, but before I could proceed with my chain of thought I was suddenly interrupted by the person who was walking besides me.

"The person who was there… he was your brother, right? Portgas D. Ace" he asked

I turned towards him, for the first time taking notice of his features. He was wearing a strange fuzzy hat, long trousers and a yellow and black sweater with a symbol that I couldn't recognise at all. His hair was as dark as mine, but shorter and with a slightly wilder edge that mine didn't have. His skin was noticeably tanner than my own pale one. However, what caught my attention the most were his eyes, which barely showed any emotion. Making his words seem slightly out of place. Yes, I was sure, I hadn't seen Tra-… Tra-guy in my entire life. He seemed to walk with a strange determination to him, which was something that I would have remembered. That, and the strange symbol on the clothes he was wearing.

"…yes" I sad, with no trace of my ever-present grin on my face.

"I'm sorry" He said, not changing his expression.

I just nodded, not really knowing what to say. I felt out of place, incredibly out of place. The sky was completely blue, even birds were singing. Life was just like it had been yesterday, only it wasn't. It really wasn't. Ace was dead, what could I do? It was then when I felt the sadness that I had been feeling start to change into something different, something stronger. I clenched my fists, feeling anger start to bubble up in me. I gritted my teeth together, soon feeling the urge to punch someone or something. I was still crying, but this time there was a sentiment different from sadness filling me up. Whoever had done this would pay. I would make sure of it.

I stopped abruptly, causing Law to turn around and look at me questioningly, as if analysing me. I fell onto my knees, ignoring the stares that the people of the crowded avenue were giving me, and started to hit repeatedly the floor, acting out of the anger that was filling me up inside.

"Whoever did this will pay, I swear it! I will make sure of it!" I swore loudly.

I closed my eyes, trying to hold back the tears that gathered in my eyes, making it hard to see clearly. An image of a past event crept into my mind, one of the time when Sabo had also been alive. I chocked a sob as I remembered one of the many times when we had been exploring the forest that surrounded Goa, fighting against the wild animals that populated it. Ace and I had continued doing that after Sabo had been killed, wanting to preserve his memory. However…

"Mugiwara-ya, if you don't stop hitting the floor you'll get hurt" I suddenly heard the one that had been walking besides me say as he grabbed the arm with which I had been hitting the floor.

I resisted his hold and tried to hit the ground again rather ineffectively, as he managed to maintain his hold on it.

"You will break a bone if you keep doing that, Mugiwara-ya" He added, this time placing his hands on my shoulders and pulling me up onto my feet.

I let him do that, dully noting the truth of his words. People were still walking quickly among the street, not slowing down or noticing me at all.

"There, much better" He said. "Now let's get you to your house, alright? You should get a rest" He said.

I just nodded and started walking again in an automatic fashion, having forgotten about work all over again. I clenched my fist again as tears kept gathering in my eyes. I felt empty. Oh so empty. I just wanted to sleep and forget that this had ever happened, to sleep and not wake up. Ace, Ace, Ace…

"You promised to not die" I muttered as I took yet another step forwards. "You promised!" I then added.

I felt Law's gaze on me, his dark eyes fixed on me with that same expression that he had before. Clinical, almost. However, I barely registered it. I would never be able to see Ace again or to talk to him, and that was what hurted me the most. I wanted to turn time backwards and save him, to stop the gears that hadn't stopped and forced me to continue on and on. I wanted to sleep and never wake up. I gulped and silently swore again to bring to justice whoever had done this atrocious act, my eyes burning with a fire filled with sadness, anger, and a strange determination.


	4. Chapter 3

Here is chapter three! Initially I wanted to add a lot more things, but it would have gotten too long. So I decided to leave them for the next chapters to avoid that and delaying this chapter. This is still a bit of an introduction, but things will start moving very soon (so the relative peace going on here will end pretty soon). Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters, Oda does.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was well past midday when I heard some knocks on the door of Ace's and mine's- no, my apartment. Well, at least I think it was well past midday. I had no actual idea of how much time had passed since that Tra-guy had dropped me off at my apartment and then left. I did remember him telling me though that Shanks had told him that he would probably come over to my apartment after the investigation for the day was completed to talk to me. I was now sitting at a corner of my room, hugging my knees to my chest and with my eyes closed. My cheeks had been completely dry for a long time, as I had cried all that I possibly could already. Around me, my room was at complete disarray due to the tantrum that I had been throwing earlier. The rest of the house was in a similar state, with glass shattered all over the place, knocked objects and furniture and other now useless and completely destroyed things.

Tra-guy, or however his name was, had been at my apartment for the first part of it and had managed to stop me then from raging destruction after I had made a cut on my arm, which he had promptly treated. He then had left, telling me to be careful and not break anything; however his words had gone straight into and out of my mind, as almost immediately after he left I had resumed my previous activity. I really hadn't heard what he had said at all, or not truly.

This had lasted for what seemed like a short period of time to me, until I neither had the energy or the things to destroy and rage against anymore. Then again, it _had_ been night time at some point after I had started, and it _was_ daytime now. How much time had passed? Ace's room had remained with the door closed throughout all of it, just like he had left it before he had gone to work the day before. I hadn't even dared to touch it, feeling as if doing so would mean desecrating it and destroy the purity and holiness that it had almost seemed to attain now. Once I had calmed down I had decided to just sit at a corner of my room alone with my thoughts, not exactly daring to do anything else or even move.

I was absent, lost in memories, deep in thought despite the fact that this was one of the rarest things for me to do. I didn't usually spend too much time thinking about things. It made me do things that I then would most likely regret. It wasn't like I could do much about it though. I had been hearing some knocks on my door the night before, but I hadn't done much about it, now that I remembered. Maybe I could ignore the ones that I was hearing now as well. I didn't want to face anything anyways. It was as if I had lost a reason for living, and I didn't want to do anything about it. Sitting down neck-deep in memories was fine.

_'Knock knock'_ I heard again. The knocks soon repeated yet again, more insistently and strongly. I was forced to look up at the direction to which the entrance to the house was due to this as soon as I heard the knocks repeat, wondering who it could be.

"Luffy! Open up, we know you are in there!" someone shouted from the other side of the door.

I tilted my head to the side, slightly annoyed by the fact that someone had interrupted the reminiscing of memories that I was doing, my knees still hugged to my chest. However, it wasn't long until I recognised the owner of that voice. It was hard not to.

"Zoro" I muttered, still not moving.

The knocks repeated then again and again, still in that same loud way. I sighed and clutched my knees more tightly. I had been sitting long enough in the exact same position so that it had already been long since I had felt completely certain parts of my body. I couldn't exactly cry anymore, having run out of tears, so this was the closest thing I could do to grieving.

"Luffy, Shanks came yesterday but told us that you didn't open the door. We just want to talk" another voice said.

"We know about what happened to your brother, Luffy. Don't worry, Rayleigh said that he understood, but he wants to speak to you. Please open up, we need to make sure that you're okay" Someone else then said, with a calmer and sweeter voice than the two that I had heard before, albeit with a certain touch of worry and nervousness in it.

I couldn't help but to smile gently as I remembered the man that they had just mentioned: Rayleigh. He had once been an incredibly important person, being the right hand man of Gol D Roger: who had been a very important 'businessman' and had had a lot of contact with the underworld. So much, in fact, that he had been even called its 'King'. After his execution Rayleigh had supposedly settled and formed a small hotel. However, many still thought that he had contact with certain people here and there, or at the very least always had information. He had offered me a job at his hotel, where I had met my group of friends.

"Sanji, Nami…" I said, chocking a sob that unwillingly came up. My friends were here. My friends were here…

It was then when I decided to get up and open the door, not really thinking about what I was doing or processing it. There were noticeable marks on both of my legs that had come from clutching them so strongly for so long, even some marks of my nails in them. A similar thing could be seen in both of my arms, although I was only half aware of it. I tumbled around a bit, feeling dizzy from getting up so suddenly after remaining in the same position for so long. There were still some bandages on an area of my arm, covering the cut that that Tra-guy had treated some unknown amount of time before. I felt blood rush to all of my body suddenly, giving me the feel of ants crawling up my body, or any insect really.

Soon I was over by the door. My friends were still speaking and telling me things, but I wasn't paying attention to them. I wasn't even fully aware of the fact that they were speaking, I was just getting the feeling that they were. I touched the lock of the door, feeling its coldness on my fingers, and I quickly moved it, effectively unlocking the door. As soon as my friends heard this they made a move the handle of the door so as to open it, but I was quicker and just opened it. Soon I had before me five of my friends, looking at me with surprised expressions which revealed that they hadn't thought that I would open the door. It was then when the smell of fresh air hit me and I became aware of how stagnated the one of my room was. How much time had it been like that?

"Luffy!" Usopp said as soon as I opened the door, however soon turning silent as he saw the state in which the house was in.

I moved a bit, inviting them to come in with this gesture, and then closing the door after they were inside the house. Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Chopper and Usopp remained silent for a small bit of time, probably scanning their surroundings and guessing how I had been feeling since I had learnt of my brother's death.

"Luffy…" Chopper said with a sad expression, looking at me.

"It's, uh, okay Chopper. I-" I started saying, but soon falling silent. Not really managing to continue saying whatever it was that I had wanted to say. I gulped, not liking the strange feeling that remained in my throat since yesterday.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Luffy" Nami suddenly said. "Just remember that you have us too. We're your friends" She said as she pulled me into a hug. I could see the other three smiling at her words, clearly feeling the same thing.

I was shocked at first, especially at the warmth of her body, but soon chocked a sob and hugged back. I remained otherwise in silence, not really wanting to say anything. After a while the hug broke. I remained in silence, still not really knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry that I didn't go to work yesterday, I should have called. I…" I started saying.

"Don't worry about it. Shank called Rayleigh and explained everything. It was all dealt with" Usopp explained.

"The old man says that he wants to see you though" Zoro added, as Usopp nodded.

"Shanks also told us that you didn't open the door yesterday, so he probably wants to see you as well" Sanji then said.

I was slightly shocked by this, not really having realised that Shanks had been knocking yesterday. It was then when Chopper suddenly noticed the bandages, now lightly stained with blood, which covered a bit of my arm. Soon he asked me what had happened to cause me to wear them.

"After I came back yesterday I accidentally cut myself on my arm, but Tra-guy was there and quickly cured it" I said as I looked at my short and brown-haired friend. He looked at me, asking me that way if he could check it again, to which I just nodded.

"Tra-guy?" Zoro asked.

"Oh, someone that Shanks asked to accompany me back here yesterday. I think he said he worked with the police or something" I just said as the bandages were taken off by Chopper, who was kneeling beside me with the bag with medical things he always carried around open. Soon, after ensuring that everything was in order, he was changing them for others as he told me to be more careful next time as it was a deep cut. "I can't remember his name though" I just said. It was true, as I only remembered his surname starting with 'Tra', but nothing else.

"Either way, Luffy. We should get out of here and go outside" Usopp suddenly said.

"…Why?" I asked, not understanding the why I should leave the apartment. I didn't feel ready to go outside.

"Journalists. They reported what happened yesterday today and will probably be following around very soon" He explained.

"Oh, okay" I said, still not feeling well enough to go outside but realising the necessity to do so. The last thing I wanted was that to happen. "I'll go now then" I said.

-.-.-.-

We left my apartment a while later, after I had also changed at Nami's insistence. Before I locked the door and put the key in my pocked I placed my straw hat on my head, feeling as if it gave me strength to carry on. I was still sad, but the presence of my friends comforted me a lot.

We decided to go to Rayleigh's hotel first for convenience and to meet with the others. We all worked there after all. Soon we set ourselves and started walking through the streets. There wasn't any real way of avoiding groups of people, although we did our best. I felt some glazes on me, as if people knew who I was and what had happened. Some got closer to each other and whispered as I walked by. I tried to ignore them completely, but a small part of me was paying attention to what they were doing. Not too much though.

After what seemed ages we turned and went into an alley, deciding to walk to the hotel through a slightly longer path to avoid the main streets. There the street was slightly damp, as was the air. Tiny droplets of water were falling from the edges of the leaves at some or other garden of this or that house. Some were crawling down the walls of buildings. It was clear that it had been raining before. The air, quite moist, only seemed to prove this. There were a number of puddles on the dirty floor here and there, as well as fallen leaves and plants. Thankfully the wind wasn't too strong, or else the coolness of the place would have caused me to shiver, as I was wearing only my usual red shirt, trousers and sandals.

We kept walking, not noticing any of the things lying on the street or the garbage. We were used this part of town, had been for years in fact. Soon we turned at a corner again, and again and again. Arriving at the hotel where we worked fifteen minutes after starting to walk. We went in quickly, and I was relieved that I hadn't seen any journalist of any type while I was outside. I only took a couple of steps through the familiar place when I was greeted by my other friends, who had been waiting for me here. I smiled and went to greet them. From a corner of the room Rayleigh smiled at me in that fatherly way he had. Suddenly, I felt much better than before. I wouldn't be able to see Ace again, but I had my friends.


	5. Chapter 4

Here is chapter four! It took a while at first because I was planning details of the plot for later on, but then it turned out to be a bit hard to write. Really fun, but hard since this is the start of the real thing. Hope you guys like it! =D

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters, Oda does.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tiny droplets of rain fell onto the already soaked grass slowly, one by one, as if sent by the clouds to ask for permission to rain. It was a strange thing to see, even if it had been raining for the most part of the last days. Soon it would have been a week since my brother's death. A week. It was hard to believe, still. It had only been six days since then, and the time had seemed to pass so slowly and yet quickly at the same time. It was a strange occurrence, something that I hadn't really gone through before. However, I had a strange feeling that the next weeks would be very similar to this: Slow, and yet quick. As if this strange pace of time would continue until who knows when. Yes, a feeling told me that the following days or weeks would be the longest of my life. It didn't exactly surprise me. It would be strange to get used to 'normal' life again.

Grey clouds covered the entirety of the sky, giving the entire town a strange and slightly eerie feeling. It was an incredibly strange occurrence, as usually May meant incredibly good weather along with sunny skies for the city of Goa. The air was damp and heavy, and was accompanied by very strong winds. My beloved straw hat was hanging from my neck, surprisingly still considering the strength of the wind that predominated today. I lifted by left arm to scratch my hair, and found it slightly dampened by the few droplets of water falling from the sky, with points sticking out of it everywhere. I got a chill through all my body due to the cold. It was going to rain soon.

I was standing alone at one of the many cemeteries at the city. In this case, it was one of the many that could be seen at the poor areas of town. It was quite bare and obviously worse constructed than those that could be found at the parts of town reserved for nobles. There wasn't really any structured or planned out floor covering the ground, and instead dirt, weeds and moss covered every single corner of it, even the graves. Some of them were starting to crack due to time, whilst standing beside others who had fallen apart long ago. However this didn't matter in the end as neither of such types of graves, which populated the entire graveyard, had anyone visiting them or even remembering the person that had been buried them. They had all been forgotten, abandoned, probably due to the pass of time and the death of their families and friends.

I was alone in said place, mainly because of the late hour. Or well, almost alone. At a far corner of the cemetery a pair of old people were crying over a new-looking grave, just like that of my brother. Today was the second day that I had found myself here, or rather, the first day which I had decided to spend 'visiting' my brother. Yesterday, May fourteenth, had been the day in which he had been buried. All kinds of people had attended the burial, many of my friends and adults that knew us, along with the friends that he had and knew. I hadn't been able to recognise most of them; however they all had seemed to recognise me instead, saying that Ace had talked about me a lot at work and adding as well that I could ask them help for anything anytime: anything for their friend's brother. Many of them had been dropping at different times that day, and while I hadn't seen them all I had met a couple of them again.

One of the ones that had arrived mostly at the same time as I had, directly after midday, had been Marco, a blond man that seemed to be only slightly older than my brother. He was one of the few friends of him that I had known from before, as Ace had invited him over on numerous occasions. He had only left a short while ago, saying that he had to get to work to help 'pops', as they called their boss, but that he would probably be back tomorrow for a while. We had spent the time in silence, not really speaking. It was especially a strange feeling for me, as I was the opposite of silent the huge majority of time. I didn't like prolonged silences. My friends had also spent quite an amount of time taking turns and being with me, to make sure that I was okay. Robin was the one that would soon arrive, as Brook, who worked as a musician at the same hotel as I did and at many others, had told me before leaving.

Weeds surrounded the still-fresh earth of my brother's grave, as if threatening to slowly cover it. The stone of the grave was still painfully new when compared to that of the other ones. The moss still hadn't made its appearance, but it eventually would manage to. Another droplet of water fell, reminding me that it was going to rain soon. It was cliché, in a way. All types of flowers surrounded the grave, giving it a strangely colourful appearance in comparison to the rest of the place. The sun was slowly going down, letting the shadows become slowly larger and larger. It wouldn't be long before it was night time, and as I knew it was better to be off the streets at this time. I closed my eyes, not being able but to remember the state my brother's body had been. His face had been intact, however the rest of the body had been another story.

"Luffy" I suddenly heard behind me.

I turned around and greeted my friend with a smile, suddenly having forgotten my previous thoughts. "Robin" I said as she walked towards me.

She smiled and stopped besides me, soon looking at the sky. "I brought an umbrella, seeing how it was probably going to rain" she said.

I smiled at her and quickly thanked her with a grin, grateful for her thoughtfulness. The thought of getting an umbrella hadn't even crossed my mind. At least I'd be able to avoid getting soaked wet while walking back home, as well as any curious person that wanted to ask me any questions. The rain and bad weather had worked wonders these last days in terms of avoiding journalists. I opened my mouth to say something else and start talking to her, she was one of my good friends after all, but I then heard some other steps behind me. I immediately turned around, as did Robin.

"Tra-guy! Thank you for the other day!" I said as a smile started to appear on my face.

He looked at us with seemingly surprised eyes, as if he hadn't expected us to be there at all. He was wearing very similar clothes to the ones that he had been wearing the other day, only this time he was wearing a black jumper rather than the yellow and black one that he had worn the other day. The symbol imprinted on it was the same as that of the yellow and black jumper though. It reminded me of the sort of thing that would be on a pirate flag, really. It was strange, even if I had seen it already before. His hands were in his pockets, giving him a lean-back appearance. It also made him seem shorter than me, which I would have thought if I hadn't been with him the other day. Despite the apparent surprise that I could see in his face, his eyes had still that same monotonous look to them, as if he was bored or constantly analysing everything around him.

"Luffy, who is this?" I heard Robin ask while she eyed Tra-guy. I couldn't remember his full name.

"He is the one that accompanied me back to my apartment the other day and cured the cut on my arm!" I said with a grin on my face, happy to see him again. "He is Trafura… Trofalgi… Umm…" I then started saying, trying to remember his name but not exactly managing to.

"I am Trafalgar Law" He suddenly said, as he stepped towards us and offered his hand to Robin. He said this without seemingly much interest at all, making it seem like a forced interaction. "I work in the forensics department of the police" He then added.

"Nico Robin" She said as she took his hand. "I'm a friend of Luffy" She then added with another slightly monotonous tone of voice, spending some seconds looking directly at Law before actually shaking his hand.

Suddenly, as I watched them shake hands, I realised that Law hadn't known Ace. What was he then doing here?

"Hey, Tra-guy" I started saying, switching immediately to how I had been calling him until now due to not remembering _again _his actual name. "What are you doing here? Did you know Ace, by some chance?" I asked, wondering if he had actually known by brother and had wanted to visit. He _had_ come to the funeral yesterday, but it had been more of a formality than anything else, as I had figured out. I hadn't been able to talk to him yesterday though, so I wasn't sure.

He shook his head, immediately denying what I had just said. "Shanks told me to tell you that he wanted to see you. He has something important to tell you" He said nonchalantly, as if that fact didn't interest him at all.

I was immediately surprised by this. "What is it? I already spoke with him the other day. Did they find something new in the investigation?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, he didn't tell me" he said. "I just work in the forensics department. I'm not in the actual investigation team" he added. For some reason, he sounded uncomfortable while saying this. "He also told me to bring you as soon as possible" He then added.

I nodded, and immediately started wondering what he would want to tell me. Perhaps they had found a very important clue that would lead them to the killer and he wanted to tell me about it?

"We should go, Luffy. It could be something important" Robin said.

I nodded. "Yes, let's go" I said with determination, looking straight into Law's eyes.

He nodded at me and maintained the eye contact. "Very well" He just said. He proceeded to turn around. "Follow me" He said.

I nodded and started following him, with Robin walking beside me. We all remained quiet, even I, knowing that this was a serious occasion. What was it that Shanks wanted to tell me? It must be something important. Step by step we started getting out of the cemetery, and soon Ace's grave was quite a distance behind me. I clenched my fists, feeling a rush of determination go through me. I would discover who had done this and make them pay. I definitely would.

Soon we were walking through the familiar alleys, which were completely devoid of people. Each step we took reverberated and echoed against the walls of the streets, making the task of advancing under the heavy grey clouds feel strange. There were some more thhan questionable things lying in the middle of the streets, giving off a putrid smell that was impossible to avoid. The windows of the houses that faced the street were mostly all closed. However, some of them were opened, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the glint of the eyes of people observing us as we walked. It was something impossible to ignore.

More drops of water fell from the sky, turning the greyish and dirty streets into something even greyer and darker. They started falling more and more frequently, until it was raining quite heavily and Robin opened the umbrella she had brought with her, covering both of us. Tra-guy didn't seem to mind though, has he was wearing that had I had seen him with the other time. His jumper, however, started getting soaked. I decided to ask him if he wanted to come under the umbrella as well, seeing how he didn't have one. I looked at Robin, asking if it was okay with her with a look, and she nodded at me. I grinned.

"Tra-guy, are you okay getting soaked like that under the rain? There is still space under the umbrella" I said with now a smile on my face, feeling the unspeakable tension that had been in the air drop a bit.

He remained quiet for a while, surely thinking about what to answer. I frowned, not really being able to tell what was going inside his head. Suddenly he turned around and looked at me.

"If it is okay with you" He said, as a half polite 'yes'.

"Great!" I said as I moved a bit to a side and gestured him to come under the umbrella as well.

He walked towards us and came under the umbrella, and nodded at us as what interpreted as a 'thanks', but otherwise remained distant and just looked away. I did catch a look at his eyes though, which were dark and calculating, but had a certain light to them. I liked them. As we walked I accidentally brushed my elbow against one of his hands, and I was surprised when I felt the sheer warmth that his body gave off, even with his soaked jumper. It was a strange feeling.

We remained in a now comfortable silence as we turned through the mirage of streets and alleys, each the same and with the same smell lingering in the air, however soon we had arrived at the building where Shanks' office was at. I gulped, anxious.

"We arrived" I muttered.

Tra-guy nodded, and gestured at the building. "We should go inside" He said, as Robin closed her umbrella.

I nodded and immediately started walking towards the entrance, and pushed it open with quite a lot of strength, making the doors crash against the walls. I started walking up the stairs, hearing Robin's and Tra-guy's footsteps behind me. Soon I was right in front of the door that led to his office. I grabbed my straw hat and placed it atop of my head, and then opened the door. Immediately being greeted by the familiar sight of the place where Shanks' office was located. I immediately spotted the face of my childhood hero.

"Luffy!" He said, "I see you came!" He then added with a grin on his face, which looked mildly forced, as if it wasn't entirely truthful. "Thanks for telling him to come, Law, I owe you one" He then said.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?" I asked him, nervous.

He looked away as I said this, and I felt the pitiful looks of the other people at the office on me. I knew all of them, but…

"Shanks?" I asked, not liking this reaction. Was it something bad? What had happened?

"I tried everything I could to make sure that this didn't happen, but for some reason the police wouldn't even bulge. And it has only been a week, for god's sake!" he said as he clenched his fist in anger.

I just looked at him questioningly, forgetting the presence of Tra-guy and my friend behind me. "Shanks?" I asked.

"The police have decided that this was only a suicide case, even when it is damn clear that it is a murder! They have decided to stop investigating the case!" he said, anger fuelling his words.

I fell onto my knees, not wanting to believe what had just been said. Suicide? My brother? Why had this happened? What had made them decide this?


End file.
